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Ascelin of Lombardy, also known as Nicolas Ascelin or Ascelin of Cremona, was a 13th-century Dominican friar whom Pope Innocent IV sent as an envoy to the Mongols in March 1245. Ascelin met with the Mongol ruler Baiju, and then returned to Europe with a message and Mongol envoys in 1248.<br/><br/> Baiju (died 1260) was a general of the Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate. He was the general responsible for the conquest of Anatolia in 1243 after the victory in the Battle of Sivas (Kose Dag), and led the advance from Syria to Egypt in 1259. Hulegu Khan had Baiju executed when the Mongol corps fled from the Mamelukes after the Battle of Ain Jalut.
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate was a Mongol khanate established in Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanate was based, originally, on Genghis Khan's campaigns in the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219–1224, and founded by Genghis's grandson, Hulagu, in territories which today comprise most of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and some regions of western Pakistan. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religions, but was initially sympathetic to Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, embraced Islam.<br/><br/> The Catalan Atlas (1375) is the most important Catalan map of the medieval period. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham, a Jewish book illuminator who was self-described as being a master of the maps of the world as well as compasses.It has been in the royal library of France (now the Bibliothèque nationale de France) since the late 14th century.
Letter of Güyük Khan of the Ilkhanate to Pope Innocent IV, persian version, brought to Europe by John de Carpini. Ink on paper, dated 11 November 1246.<br/><br/> Guyuk's enthronement on 24 August 1246, near the Mongol capital at Karakorum, was attended by the Franciscan friar and envoy of protested Mongol attacks on Catholic kingdoms of Europe, Guyug stated that these people had slain Mongol envoys in the time of Genghis Khan and Ogedei Khan. He also claimed that 'from the rising of the sun to its setting, all the lands have been made subject to the Great Khan', proclaiming an explicit ideology of world conquest.<br/><br/> The Khagan wrote a letter to Pope Innocent IV on the relations between the Church and the Mongols. 'You must say with a sincere heart: "We will be your subjects; we will give you our strength". You must in person come with your kings, all together, without exception, to render us service and pay us homage. Only then will we acknowledge your submission. And if you do not follow the order of God, and go against our orders, we will know you as our enemy'.